A fantastic experience!

Sail Date:
July 2013

Destination:
Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

Embarkation:
Athens (Piraeus)

We are in our late-40's and have travelled extensively to a number of 5-star destinations in North America and the Caribbean - we have high standards for our vacations! This was only our 2nd cruise and we were a bit nervous because our first cruise experience (Royal Caribbean) was only mediocre. Instead, our 10-day "Aegean Allure" cruise aboard the Mariner was totally above and beyond all of our expectations.

On-board, the attention to detail and excellence was almost mind-numbing. The food was delicious, perfectly-presented and plentiful - at first we were a bit concerned about having only 2 dinners at the reservation restaurants (Steakhouse and French) but the food/service in the 2 non-reservation restaurants, especially the main Compass Rose, was so excellent that it totally didn't matter!). Drinks were as advertised (all-inclusive and plentiful: many different premium beers from around the world available and all top-shelf liquor - I asked for a bottle of Grey Goose More
to be delivered to our suite and it was there an hour later). Our room was spacious and beautifully appointed - the walk-in closet was awesome. Tons of space throughout the ship - never felt crowded. Theatre and casino provided great entertainment opportunities.

Off the ship, the ports we visited were unbelievable - couldn't have asked for a better itinerary. We did only 2 of the Regent Choice excursions (where you pay extra) and 7 of the free/included ones - all of the trips were extremely well-organized and staged in order to minimize time in line-ups etc. Our guides were obviously elite ones with tremendous knowledge and passion. We also never had to stand in line at any of the sites - our guides just wisked us to the front of the lines!

Anyone who is critical of this ship and Regent either has impossibly high standards or has an axe to grind. This is true 6-star cruising and worth every penny of the cost! Less

Cabin review: JS969

Our cabin (969) was very centrally located. We hardly ever used the elevators - only 2 floors up to the pool deck and 2-4 floors down to the restaurants.Only complaint (but applies to all of the suites) is that the shower is not made for people over 6' tall - I'm 6'4" and had to stoop over in the shower.Love the fact that each room has a balcony!